Who Is Lying Now? The Battle Of The Opinion Polls; Gun Ownership, On the Rise Or Fall?

Those who favor strict gun control are trying to create the meme that all of these guns being sold this past year are going to the same bunch of people who are simply adding to their “stockpiles”, not to new shooters./GunsSaveLife

It seems all you need, to call yourself a “legitimate” source of public polling is a huge money-backer and a large mailing list, and General Social Survey (GSS) and National Opinion Research Center (NORC), seem to be a two-headed monster hellbent on distorting the stats. GSS is of course supported by the National Opinion Research Center which is based out of the University of Chicago and has been doing “social” research since 1941 for groups such as; The World Bank Group, the American Statistical Association and the Joyce Foundation to name a few.

If you don’t know who the Joyce Foundation is, I’ll give you a few insights. Since 2003, the Joyce Foundation has paid grants totaling over $12 million to gun control organizations.The largest single grantee has been the Violence Policy Center, which received $4,154,970 between 1996 and 2006. President Barrack Obama sat on the Board of Directors from 1994-2002, helping to further their political and gun control contributions.

Now, I would never “imply” that a group such as NORC or GSS would ever skew their statistics, just to keep their endowment funding rolling in, but I would say that they definitely understand who “butters their bread”. The question lies in; could this funding source create a more biased slant? Well like my daddy used to say; “If the meal isn’t what the customer ordered, the customer isn’t going to pay for it.”

I bring all of this up, because of an article I read the other day, from the Violence Policy Center (remember, that group who has received a “bunch” of cash from the Joyce Foundation?). Well they are trying to prove that “Gun ownership in America is on the decline”, and they are using statistics gathered from NORC and GSS. Now, although I haven’t been able to prove that statistics gathered by either of these two sources are biases toward the “gun control” crowds efforts, I will say that I won’t stop digging until I do find out more about them.

Here are some of the stats they included in their latest round of “gun control propaganda”, as well as some statistics that refute them. Although, I don’t want you to swallow them “hook, line and sinker”, but do some digging on your own to decide what is truth and what is not.

As NORC notes, “Except for the U.S. Census, the GSS is the most frequently analyzed source of information in the social sciences.” The NORC data shows that American household gun ownership hit its peak in 1977, when more than half of American households (53.7 percent) reported having any guns. By 2014, only 32.4 percent of American households had a gun in the home — less than a third.

Now, what we see here is ONE source being used by every “gun control” advocate in this country, while statistics from other reputable sources including Gallup and ABC News which show a much different outcome, have been completely left out of their propaganda messages. Here are some graphs regarding the same subject matter, from those two sources, and its obvious exactly what it relays in terms of accuracy and bias.

Whether we considered these sources to be accurate or not, if we are working to create a “true” statistical evaluation of gun ownership in America, I would have assumed that NORC and GSS would like to continue to bolster their credibility by ensuring their stats are correct and not tainted by numbers that reflect a more biased slant in favor of their biggest monetary supporters, but again I must digress; “If the food tastes like crap, the “paying” customers aren’t going to eat it.”

It doesn’t take a “rocket doctor” to read these graphs and note that two relatively reputable polling surveys have concluded that gun ownership in America has stayed at relatively stable numbers throughout the same polling periods that GSS/NORC claim a steep decline.

Now we know that all surveys have problems, but in many instances are the only way to determine gun ownership rates. Yet there are other methods that can be as accurate, if not more so, and that is to look at licensed gun owners. Although there have only been a few states that have licenses and haven’t changed the rules for getting the permits, and most notably is the home state of GSS/NORC, Illinois. Over the last six years GSS has been implying through their surveys that legal gun ownership has fallen, but FOID cards, which are necessary to legally obtaining and owning a firearm has been on a steady rise.

“1.2 million Illinoisans held Firearm Owners Identification cards, the number has jumped to 1.6 million, state police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. Soon after the court decreed in December that Illinois couldn’t ban public carry anymore, demand for FOID cards jumped precipitously. In January alone, Bond reported, there were 61,000 FOID applications, nearly double the 31,000 in January 2012.” ~ Springfield (NWI Times)

Illinois State Police have given us these numbers; 1.2 million FOID card holders for 2009, in 2010 it rose to 1,316,508, the numbers grew again in 2011/1,395,114, and then again in 2012/1,476,408 and once again in 2013/ 1,633,039. This easily disproves the “gun control” advocates claims that it is the same Americans buying more guns. The number of concealed handgun permits can also provide some more information in regards to “true” gun ownership in America, showing that the number of permits have increased from about 4.6 million in 2007 to well over 9.3 million at the beginning of 2013.

Here is something that John Lott wrote in his 2003 book “The Bias Against Guns”: A few years ago, while I was doing research at the University of Chicago, I had lunch with Tom Smith, who is the director of the General Social Survey at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). This private organization conducts many important national surveys for the government as well as other clients. During lunch Tom mentioned how important he thought the General Social Survey was. He felt the large drop in gun ownership implied by his survey would “make it easier for politicians to do the right thing on guns” and pass more restrictive regulations. His surveys have traditionally shown one of the lowest gun ownership rates among any of the surveys: for example, almost 20 percentage points lower than recent polling by John Zogby. . . . Of note; Tom Smith is the director of the GSS, and it is of interest that his organization has received funding from the Joyce Foundation.

Now these are by far, not the only statistics that NORC and GSS are ponying up, they in fact have printed many that conflict with true statistical averages, based on a complete cross-section of polling from across our country. It seems their heavily slanted statistics have every “gun-control” advocate in the country salivating like “Pavlov’s Dogs” trying to prove that Americans don’t like guns, even if the true numbers don’t reflect it.

Statistics showing just how much coverage/priority Gun Control issues have been given by the Mainstream Media/Via Nate Silver, using NewsLibrary‘s database:

It is painfully obvious if you take the time and have the stomach to read the fictional works of Huffington Post writer Josh Sugarmann and his latest endeavor entitled; Fewer and Fewer Americans Own Guns Phrases like; “Not surprisingly, most gun owners tend to be white men who live outside cities.” abound, or the even more disturbing and perverted NORC/GSS statistics he spouts, all of which couldn’t be further from the truth and is such a “steaming pile” of nasty toilet house trash that it only deserves to be flushed before anyone with a brain reads it. These people are not concerned with the truth, only in furthering their agenda, at any cost.

I wonder what it’s like to be a “high paid lackey” for the some organization that relies so heavily on monies donated by a foundation that only wants one thing; Gun Control in America? Well Josh, tell us how much that article you just published over at Huffpo was worth to them? How much of your integrity do you lose every time to sit down at the computer, and churn out those amazing works of fiction? No I’m NOT backed by a “high-dollar” foundation. No, I do not run or work for a “non-profit” foundation that promotes unConstitutional values. I run my own “grass roots” advocacy that is supported purely from profits made from the sale of our products. An “unapologetic” for-profit corporation that supports its own advocacy efforts through the sale of products our customers want and appreciate.

I may not make a huge salary like many of the “foundation supported non-profits” make, but I can look in the mirror every morning and know that I didn’t sell my honesty and integrity to the highest bidder.

Patrick James has worked as a firefighter/EMT for several services throughout the years, as well as a custom metal fabricator, certified personal trainer and chef.

Growing up in the rural suburbs of Detroit, it was during his frequent trips to Northern Michigan where he learned of his love for hunting and fishing. Spending several of his adult years in upstate South Carolina, his love of extreme sports took root in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains as he learned to rock climb and kayak.

“Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and vanish into air.” ~ John Quincy Adams

About the Author

Patrick James has worked as a firefighter/EMT for several services throughout the years, as well as a custom metal fabricator, certified personal trainer and chef.
Growing up in the rural suburbs of Detroit, it was during his frequent trips to Northern Michigan where he learned of his love for hunting and fishing. Spending several of his adult years in upstate South Carolina, his love of extreme sports took root in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains as he learned to rock climb and kayak.
"Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and vanish into air." ~ John Quincy Adams

4 Commentson "Who Is Lying Now? The Battle Of The Opinion Polls; Gun Ownership, On the Rise Or Fall?"

how damn stupid can these so called researchers really be . in the last 5 years we have had record gun sales , and these idiots think only 35% of citizens own all those new guns sold . the only people that believe this bs are uninformed libertals . anyone with a brain the size of a ants ass knows full well these so called studies are plan bullshit , never using any real facts , just the worthless party the socialist / communist democrats . also tell me why they are completely ignoring the real problem , criminals . and only going after legal gun owners . over 85% of gun crimes are committed by stollen guns so why does the worthless party not go after the real problem . I firmly believe the worthless party is part of criminal enterprize for not going after the real problem . so far their actions prove my point. complete idiots